Release nears for Invertical

Within the next 48 hours I hope to complete the core game content and start on work such as the sound effects, front end, tweaking level design, improving artwork, refining the jumping code and so forth.

At the same time there is an absolutely massive task ahead… actually getting the game some attention! I really believe there is something pretty cool about Invertical and that people will on the whole enjoy it. Quick note there – not all games are for everyone and I’ll never claim that my games are the exception. Unfortunately I’ve left this a little late as the various websites that I’d look to target don’t know “Oxygen Addict” and may not care. The game is going to need an awesome sales pitch!

I’ve still not got the perfect headline for the game (if anyone can come up with the new headline you get a free copy of the game!) and limited assets. Screenshots shouldn’t be too hard to put together but making a video is a lot more complex and I’d want to take my time over it. I’ve got the Deep Sea preview video, hopefully that will do! I’ll maybe provide my playtest build which will be complete in the next 48 hours.

Pricing is the final big question that I have. For the full release I’m thinking maybe £1-£2… at most $5. Of course none of this goes into my pocket as the game is for charity but deciding what is a fair amount to maximise the amount that I can raise for Sick Kids Save Point is a tough one. Hopefully the forthcoming playtests will help get a better idea of where people value the game.

There will also be two free versions. First of all is a demo, which will be a stripped down version of the full game. I’ll pick around eight to twelve levels that I believe gives a good overview of the different styles of gameplay, ending in one of the chapter finales (but not the actual final level). The second will be a HTML5 version that is much the same as the demo but I’ll strip it down using just a couple of chapters and have only the one piece of background music. This is to reduce the file size substantially as loading times will be a huge barrier to entry.